1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to microdot tags and, more particularly, to making and handling a microdot tag, as well as marking a product with a microdot to identify the product.
2. Description of the Related Art
Microdots are small, usually from a few microns to less than a few millimeters in size, and one or more microdots are applied to a product for identification purposes, such as the identity of the rightful, registered owner of the product, or whether the product is authentic and not counterfeit or gray market goods. Each microdot includes a substrate that carries a unique identifier such as a specific serial number to enable a subsequent finder of a microdot-bearing product to identify the origin and/or owner of the product. One or more microdots are typically adhesively placed discretely, and sometimes openly, at numerous locations on various items of personal property on the premise that one or more of these microdots will be subsequently examined, thereby revealing the correct ownership and/or origin of the items of personal property.
It is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,243,734 to configure a microdot as a square having a side dimension on the order of 0.007 inch. Each microdot includes indicia of the identity of the owner. It is further known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,763,928 to cut small coded disks from a strip of plastic to allow a person to apply the coded disks to an item.
As advantageous as these known microdots have been in reducing product forgeries and combating theft, their small size makes them difficult to handle. A pair of miniature tweezers, such as conventional watch repair tweezers, is typically used to apply the microdot to the product. However, applying the microdot even with the aid of tweezers requires a high degree of care and skill, which may not be present in an individual attempting to apply and maneuver the microdot into the correct position on the product.